JACKSON, Miss. - The Jackson State men's basketball team makes the trip to Ruston, La. tomorrow for a Tuesday night matchup with Louisiana Tech. Tip-off is set for 6:30 p.m. (CT) at the Samuel M. Thomas Assembly Center.

GAME 3 DETAILS:
at Louisiana Tech 
Ruston, La.
Samuel M. Thomas Assembly Center
6:30 p.m.
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LIVE STATS

GAME 2 RECAP: OLE MISS
Jackson State controlled the early minutes of the contest, taking a quick 6-4 lead over the Rebels before Ole Miss eventually went on a 20-0 run to distance themselves to a 24-6 lead. Through the first twenty minutes of play, Jackson State shot 5-of-25 from the field with junior, Jayveous McKinnis, leading the way with six points and six rebounds. Tristan Jarrett had four points on 2-of-5 shooting at the break as Ole Miss took a 41-12 lead into the locker room. Ole Miss opened up the second half on a 9-2 run to give the Rebels a 50-14 three minutes into the second half. The Rebels went on to defeat the Tigers by a final of 80-45 Thursday night. Jackson State was led by McKinnis, who finished with 12 points on the night and 12 rebounds, recording his first double-double of the season. Jarrett tallied 13 points, eight rebounds, and a team high two steals. Calvin Temple had seven points on 2-of-7 shooting from the field. As a team, Jackson State finished 15-of-50 from the field with 12 bench points, and 14 points in the paint.

CONFERENCE HONORS
Jayveous McKinnis was tabbed Defensive Player of the Year for the second consecutive season. McKinnis averaged 9.3 points per game and led the league in blocks at 1.9 per outing and served as key factor for a JSU defense that ranked second in the league in points allowed per game (67.4 ppg). McKinnis averaged 9.5 points per game and led the league in blocks at 1.9 per outing in 32 total games played. He served as key factor for a JSU defense that ranked second in the league in points allowed per game (67.4 ppg). He also paced the league in rebounds during regular season play tallying 9.3 rebounds per outing while ranking seventh in average minutes played per game (30.3 mpg).Tristan Jarrett was named Preseason Player of the Year heading into the 2020-21 season by league administrators and coaches. Last season, Jarrett averaged 16.8 points per game ranking second in the conference in that category. He also contributed 3.3 rebounds per game to go along with 1.8 assists per outing in 32 total games played. One of the league's most prolific scorers, Jarrett tallied a minimum of twenty-points in 11 games last season while eclipsing the thirty-point mark twice during the regular season in back-to-back outings. Jarrett was also tabbed as a Preseason All-SWAC First Team selection.

TRANSFERS
The Jackson State men's basketball team dipped into the transfer market over the offseason, adding key players to positions of need. Jackson State inked transfer Darius Hicks out of Eastern Kentucky, JUCO stud, Demarion Bariffe-Smith, out of Des Moines Area Community College, Montana State transfer, Zeke Quinlan, Meridian Community College standout, Darryl Jordan, and Louisiana-Lafayette transfer, Calvin Temple.

Hicks transfers in from Eastern Kentucky having played 20 games in 2019-20 with 12 starts. In his lone season with Eastern Kentucky, the Forward averaged 5.8 points and 5.5 rebounds per game. The 6'8 incoming senior signed with NC State out of high school where he played a total of 25 games over two seasons with the Wolfpack in his first two seasons from 2016-18. The Quitman, Miss. product was rated an 87.29 three star prospcect and the No. 198 overall player in the country coming out of Quitman High School in 2016. 

Hicks was joined by Bariffe-Smith in the late signing period. Smith, comes to the Tigers having finished a stellar Junior College career at Des Moines Area Community College (DMACC) in Des Moines, Iowa. Smith led DMACC in 2019-20 with 13.7 points per game in 25.9 minutes per game. Smith played in 33 games, starting 30 for DMACC. The junior finished 46-of-109 (42.2 percent) from beyond the arc and 158-of-302 (52.3 percent) from the field. On top of leading the team with 13.7 ppg, Smith produced 7.6 rebound per game, 66 assists, 39 steals, and 18 blocks. DMACC finished the season 29-4 overall.

The Jackson State Tigers continued to roll on the recruiting trail later in the signing period, inking their third signee in two days with the signature of Montana State transfer, Zeke Quinlan. The rising junior played a total of 46 games for Montana State through his first two years at the collegiate level, contributing 13.8 minutes of player per game this past season with an average of 3.0 points and 3.0 rebounds per game.

Jordan comes to Jackson State out of Meridian Community College. In his time at MCC, Jordan averaged 12 points and 7 rebounds a game for the Eagles including an impressive double-double performance in which the freshman finished with 22 points and 13 rebounds in a 72-70 win at Mississippi Gulf Coast. The MCC transfer is a versatile player who can score inside and out. He spends most of his time in the paint but has the ability to step back and make the shots from behind the arc if he needs to.

Calvin Temple joins he Tigers in his first season after spending the 2019-20 season at Louisiana-Lafayette.The 6-foot guard appeared in 24 games for Louisiana this past season with six starts, averaging 3.2 points and 1.3 rebounds per game as a freshman. The Memphis, Tennessee native grew up in Olive Branch, Mississippi, where he attended Center Hill High, helping lead his team to a Mississippi Class 5A state championship as a senior in 2018-2019. As a senior, Temple averaged 21.4 points per game as well as 4.8 rebounds and 4.4 assists-per-game. He has three years of eligibility remaining at Jackson State.

LAST TIME OUT FOR LOUISIANA TECH
Courtesy of Louisiana Tech Communications 
Louisiana Tech built as much as a 16-point lead behind a strong first half, but turnovers and missed shots in the second half proved costly in a 61-56 loss to UL-Lafayette on Saturday night inside the Cajundome. LA Tech (4-2) had arguably its best 20 minutes of basketball to start things off, forcing 12 turnovers and defending ULL (4-1) to just 24 percent shooting.  As a result, the Bulldogs held a 35-21 advantage at halftime. The second half was the opposite as the 'Dogs coughed it up nine times and were held to just seven made field goals.  The result was the team's second road loss on the early season. "We were able to get three of their starters in foul trouble early," said head coach Eric Konkol.  "We were able to take advantage of their substitutions and stretch the lead.  We weren't able to get them into the foul trouble that we wanted in the second half and keep going at them.  We turned it over and were choppy on offense.  And they were opportunistic and made some key baskets." LA Tech had two separate runs that sparked things in the beginning.  The first was a 9-0 run, capped off by a Kalob Ledoux three-pointer, to open up an 11-3 lead. The Ragin' Cajuns Cedric Russell wiped away this run almost on his own, scoring 11 of his team's next 14 points (including three three-pointers) to put the home team ahead at 17-16 with 9:16 left in the first stanza. Then came the second run by the 'Dogs, outscoring their opponent 19-4 up until the midway point to take a 14-point lead into the locker room (ULL went 1-of-10 shooting during this stretch).  Amorie Archibald scored all 12 of his points in this period while Kenneth Lofton, Jr. added eight of his own. "He is a weapon inside," said Konkol on the freshman forward.  "We thought they would be doubling him.  Part of our versatility can be a strength." Ledoux's banked-in runner off the team's opening possession in the second half made it a 37-21 advantage for the largest lead of the contest.  After turning it over just five times up until then, the turnovers started to mount and the Ragin' Cajuns started to mount their comeback. "I thought we played with great energy and we defended the way we have been talking about," said Konkol.  "Part of defending is taking care of the basketball.  We executed the game plan.  But in the second half, our offensive flow really turned into some poor defense which ultimately cost us the game." Ultimately, it was a 13-0 run that erased LA Tech's lead and put ULL on top at 48-46 with 8:30 to go.  The Ragin' Cajuns extended their lead to five, but an offensive rebound and putback by Isaiah Crawford and another three by Ledoux tied things up at 52-52 with 5:32 left. The Bulldogs would miss their next seven shot attempts while the Ragin' Cajuns cashed in at the free throw line with six makes to take it down the stretch. Despite fouling out, Lofton, Jr. led the team in scoring with 13 points.  Crawford and Ledoux each add 11 points as the team shot 19-of-56 from the field for 33.9 percent. ULL's Russell led all scorers with a game-high 25 points while taking 22 shots.